Freeze-injured citrus fruit produced above-normal amounts of ethylene 1 to 4 days after injury. Elevated ethylene levels were often found in fruit 3 weeks after injury. Cellulase activity in the abscission zone increased 4 to 8 days after injury and preceded abscission. Some severely injured fruit that did not abscise were responsive to abscission-inducing chemicals. High internal ethylene content did not correlate as well with abscission as did high rates of abscission-zone cellulase activity.
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R. H. Young (1972) studied this question.